Got a 1k foot barbed wire fence to replace. One gate opening. Add take down old fence. Anyone got a recent quote on similar scenario?
75 miles west of Houston.

Are you going to be adding new corners, line post, and going to assume T-post?

I just had 1/2 mile done at our place in MO.
Built with 3.5" pipe at corners….. 2 7/8 pipe line post every 100 ft…… T-Post every 15 ft……. 3.5" pull pipe every 900 ft…..5 strand Oklahoma wire… not lighter Gaucho……
Gates were extra….. depending how we built the gate.
Cost me 4.80ft. Gates extra.
Pre Covid the same damn fence with the same fence crew was 2.50 ft.
If this helps any.

On the low side you can use $1.50 per foot for materials. This is for a basic 5 wire 15.5 gauge 2 point gaucho wire with wood line posts and green T post. Cost will increase if you add galvanized T post and galvanized pipe for line posts and corners.

I have seen labor from $1.50 per foot to $4.00 per foot. Labor will be higher if there are corners to be built. Labor will be on the higher side with a smaller job like this.

Is the gate on one end, or in the middle? A minor detail, but with 1000 feet, the minimum will be two double H braces (corners make the fence), but a middle gate makes it 4.

My usual fencing side note - NEVER POOR BOY A FENCE!!!!

Here's a great reference:

https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/api/CPSFile/29884/382_TX_PS_Fence_2021

So true. The fence builders up here looked at me funny when I spec'd 3.5" H Brace corners and a 3.5" H Brace every 900' for pull points…. And then 2 7/8" line post every 100'…. And t post at 15'.
They also tried to push of the Gaucho wire on me and I told them no….we would use heavy gauge Oklahoma.
Built about 3 miles of it up and down our county road so lots of folks have seen it.
I have no less than a dozen ranchers ask me who built that fence. Fence builder says now everybody wants theirs that way.
I told him now he knows how to build a Texas style fence instead of hillbilly fences. He laughed.

I think you should get a few quotes.

Welded is stouter but more expensive and generally not necessary but where you are, rot is a problem so I think it would be worthwhile.

What some dude paid in Dallas or College Station or Phoenix is nice to know but mostly irrelevant. Your soil structure will dictate your fence design requirements and thus the cost. Our ranches in the Hill Country can single brace a corner with two 8" posts in rock and stretch 6 strands of heavy barbed wire across it and it won't be coming loose in the next century. The wire will rust off before that happens. 1,000 feet is no problem. 2,000 feet might require a mid point brace. Generally, I can't pull the posts back out with a chain and front end loader when it's tamped.

At our ranch near Hempstead, that kind of build won't work. It's Brazoria Clay for 38". That will need double braces and deeper set posts and probably a brace or two in the middle of the run if I'm going 1000-2000 feet. Your fence builder in your area will know and I suggest getting several people to come give quotes and explain their means and methods.

If you get three people with three designs, question it and let them explain. It's not rocket science but overbuilding is superior to under building no matter what way you go.

As always, Pay for extra bracing and bigger posts and you'll be a lot happier. I promise.

I built our fence the same way at the hill country ranch as the Ozark with the exception I drill 4' deep 8" holes with my Beltec and put in the 3.5" pipe in concrete for the H-Brace corners. Putting in line pull HBraces every 900 ft was not that I could not stretch the wire further but for protection of the fence if a tree fell over on it.
I'd rather re stretch 900 ft rather than a quarter of a mile.
In the rocky clay soils in the Ozarks we drove the 3.5" pipe down 6 ft. For corners and pulls …. Same for the line post.
I know I could build a much cheaper fence that would work…. I just stuck to what has worked for my dad and I for years in the hill country.
Lot of merit in what you say.

Gunny456 said:

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So true. The fence builders up here looked at me funny when I spec'd 3.5" H Brace corners and a 3.5" H Brace every 900' for pull points…. And then 2 7/8" line post every 100'…. And t post at 15'.
They also tried to push of the Gaucho wire on me and I told them no….we would use heavy gauge Oklahoma.
Built about 3 miles of it up and down our county road so lots of folks have seen it.
I have no less than a dozen ranchers ask me who built that fence. Fence builder says now everybody wants theirs that way.
I told him now he knows how to build a Texas style fence instead of hillbilly fences. He laughed.

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Got any pics?

Did not take any at the time of building. Snowing its butt off right now up here. Can get some next week. I decided to go one star so I can finally post some pics. To dumb to do it the other way.

I can tell you I'm running 1300' right now by myself - already got my corners so it's just a wood post every 50' with t post every 10'. I've got an H brace every 500', and running 5 strands Oklahoma wire and I'm basically going to spend about $1600 on material alone.

Drove by a fence my dad and I built near Belton 50 years ago. It'll still hold cattle just fine, but it's time is coming. I pity the fools that try to pull those bois'darc corners. Dad believed in 4', lots of flint rock tamped down, then concrete.

I've never used concrete because I like the idea of pulling them in 50 plus years but when you jam angular flint and broken cobbles of limestone on a bed of pebbles, damn if it doesn't lock in really well. Every time I do it I'm still convinced it won't work but when it's tamped, it's locked in and solid as hell. If you got concrete too, they might as well just move the hole over.

allMondjoy said:

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Got a 1k foot barbed wire fence to replace. One gate opening. Add take down old fence. Anyone got a recent quote on similar scenario?
75 miles west of Houston.

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Have you considered using net wire instead of barbed wire? When we replace old barbed wire, use the stay-tuff brand 949-12 net cattle wire. With a barbed wire on bottom and top of the net wire, it helps keep out hogs, dogs, coyotes, etc. No more do animals get out of the pasture.

Mas89 said:

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allMondjoy said:

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Got a 1k foot barbed wire fence to replace. One gate opening. Add take down old fence. Anyone got a recent quote on similar scenario?
75 miles west of Houston.

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Have you considered using net wire instead of barbed wire? When we replace old barbed wire, use the stay-tuff brand 949-12 net cattle wire. With a barbed wire on bottom and top of the net wire, it helps keep out hogs, dogs, coyotes, etc. No more do animals get out of the pasture.

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This is a popular option, but I've seen plenty of dead deer hung up in that Barb wire on top of the field fencing. We have a lot of deer in our area so I stuck with Barb wire only

That is possible but I would not put up the net wire without a barbed wire on top. Cattle will rub on the top of the net wire and possibly try reaching over it. Our top barbed wire is just a couple inches above the net wire.
The dead deer I found a few years ago was hung up on the top two wires of an old barbed wire fence.

If you are going to use net wire put the top barb wire right on top of the heavy strand of the net wire. Do not leave a space at all.
If there is a space….when a whitetail jumps his back leg can hit the top barb wire and pushes it down as he clears it and then his foot gets caught between the barb wire and net wire and leads to a gruesome death.
Just put the damn barb wire right on top with no space and secure it as such. It will accomplish the same thing as having it an inch or two above the net wire and you will save a lot of deer lives.

This. Barb wire on top is great. Just don't leave a space for the deer's foot to hang up.